Born: 1910 (circa), United States (assumed)
Died: Unknown (after 1999)
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
The following is republished from the National Security Agency. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
In 1932 Iris Carr received a Bachelor of Science degree with a double major in mathematics and English from Prairie View College in Texas. Like many women of her day, she taught school. During the summers she drove to New York to take classes at Columbia University and in 1944 she moved to Washington. After WWII Ms. Carr worked at the black-owned electronics school Hilltop Radio Electronics Institute grading math papers and teaching business English. After meeting someone who worked for AFSA, Ms. Carr joined the agency in 1950 and was assigned to the Russian plain text office, “the snake pit,” as a statistical clerk. Iris Carr expressed pride of accomplishment and patriotism as part of her work ethic. At the age of thirty-three, she was older than most of the employees in the office and was cited by many as being an unheralded hero of the period-one who worked diligently and sought to motivate others. These qualities served her well over the course of her career. In 1958, Ms. Carr became the Personnel Officer for the Office of Collection. She remained in the personnel and administrative field for the rest of her career. She fought diligently, though quietly, for better opportunities for talented but underutilized employees until her retirement in 1971.